Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to try to blame US President Donald Trump for the nuclear weapons modernization and expansion program that Russia began years ago.
Kremlin hawks want Moscow to begin large-scale nuclear tests, writes the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
On November 4, Putin held an awards ceremony for the engineers of the new "Burevestnik" missile and the Poseidon unmanned underwater vehicle, at which he continued to praise the alleged technical capabilities of the weapons.
On November 5, Putin held a meeting of the Russian Security Council, at which Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Chief of the General Staff General Valery Gerasimov, Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergei Naryshkin, Secretary of the Security Council Sergei Shoigu, and Head of the Federal Security Service (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov presented their assessments of US President Donald Trump's statements of October 29 that the United States would begin testing its nuclear weapons.
Belousov advised Putin to immediately begin preparations for "large-scale" nuclear tests, and Putin called on the Russian Foreign Ministry (MFA), Defense Ministry (MOD), special services and relevant civilian agencies to submit proposals for the possible launch of nuclear tests.
Kremlin officials continued to interpret Trump's latest statements as a sign that the United States will begin testing nuclear warheads.
However, Trump did not specify whether the United States would test nuclear warheads or delivery systems, and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on November 2 that Trump likely meant testing delivery systems.
Russia has violated the New START Treaty and may have resumed low-yield nuclear tests in 2019, violating the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
Russia's latest weapons developments are essentially change the nuclear balance between the US and Russia, even if the technical details Putin is highlighting are correct - as the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) recently noted.
The Kremlin continues to create conditions for the deployment of mobilized reservists for combat operations in Ukraine. Russia recently passed a law allowing reservists to participate in special training to ensure the protection of critical facilities in Russia.
Russian officials have previously said that Russian authorities will only send reservists to protect critical infrastructure in their region, but the law does not include such restrictions.
The Kremlin considers the four illegally annexed regions of Ukraine to be part of Russia, so the lack of territorial restrictions in the law would allow Russia to send mobilized reservists to occupied areas of Ukraine.
On November 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law expanding the monthly payments that Russian contract soldiers receive to cover any military personnel who serve to repel an armed invasion of Russia, during an armed provocation on the state border or on Russian territory, or near areas where Russia is conducting "special military operations." operation".
The Kremlin continues to make progress in the Pokrovsk region.
For its part, North Korea is deploying additional troops to support Russian forces in the rear.
The South Korean news agency Yonhap, citing South Korean lawmakers who received information from South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS), reported on November 4 that North Korea has deployed about 5,000 military engineering troops to Russia, likely to rebuild infrastructure.
South Korean intelligence has estimated that North Korea is training and selecting personnel in preparation for the deployment of additional troops to Russia.
Currently, about 10,000 North Korean soldiers are performing "security tasks" near the Russian-Ukrainian border, and another 1,000 are clearing mines.
ISW continues to assess that it is unclear whether North Korean troops would be deployed for combat operations on Ukrainian territory, which would be a significant change, but that North Korean troops operating in Russian border areas would free up Russian forces for deployment on the battlefield.